Remainers blasted Mr Corbyn over his letter – saying it shows he secretly DOES want Britain to quit the EU despite his previous pledges.

Today Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer scrambled to repair the damage, insisting: “It does not take the option of a public vote off the table.”

The Labour boss told the PM last night he was ready to open talks on what it would take for the party to back her Brexit deal.

He wrote: “Following last week’s rejection by the House of Commons of No Deal, all necessary steps must be taken to avoid such an outcome.

“My colleagues and I look forward to discussing these proposals with you further, in the constructive manner in which they are intended.”

Mr Corbyn called for a “permanent and comprehensive” customs union with the EU – which would stop Britain cutting its own trade deals.

The other four demands called for close co-operation over goods rules, workers’ rights, Europe-wide agencies and security.

The idea that a PM who sponsored employment tribunal fees, supported weakening unfair dismissal protection and more besides will ensure “dynamic alignment on rights and protections” is utterly laughable. A complete joke. Surely we can do better than this nonsense. /2CI hate to think what all those young voters who flocked to the party for the first time in 2017 will make of this. Vote Labour, get a Tory Brexit. They will feel they have been sold down the river.

Remainer ringleader Chuka Umunna blasted: “I hate to think what all those young voters who flocked to the party for the first time in 2017 will make of this.

“Vote Labour, get a Tory Brexit. They will feel they have been sold down the river.”

Former leadership contender Owen Smith added: “Backing Brexit – even on these terms – would still shrink our economy, cost jobs and lost investment, indulge nativist nostalgia and isolationism… and pave the way for another austerity Tory Government.”

He even hinted he could quit the party in protest.

And Pat McFadden suggested the letter was a signal to Labour MPs that they won’t be punished if they side with Mrs May on Brexit.

Second referendum campaigners attacked Mr Corbyn for ignoring his own party’s policy, which states that a “people’s vote” should be an option.

Lib Dem Tom Brake said: “After 30 years sitting on the backbenches arguing for more power for members and against the EU, Corbyn has finally chosen to go for the latter at the expense of the former.”

And Eloise Todd, CEO of the Best for Britain campaign, said: “Labour must push the Tories harder to take no deal off the table and then give the public the final say on Brexit.”

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Mrs May’s deputy David Lidington agreed to meet with Labour frontbenchers in a bid to break the Brexit deadlock.

Mr Corbyn has pursued a deliberately vague policy on the EU in a bid to avoid alienating either wing of his divided party.

But recent polls suggest young Remainers are losing patience with the refusal to commit to an anti-Brexit stance.